As an inhabitant of Birmingham I would back the second city as well.
(This may be biased btw as I live here, but I try to remain impartial ;)
It's early stages so I'll keep free of detail at the moment.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Air: Birmingham International has a 15 minute rail journey time to the
city centre. The connection is easy too.
Rail: Birmingham New Street station is the central hub of the UK's
national rail network. It also has frequent services to London and
off-peak can be as little as £15 to London.
Accomodation: Hagley Road is 5 minutes from the city centre by bus and
has several hotels, there are also others on Broad Street which are
opposite Birmingham's International Convention Centre
Culture:
Plenty of bars/restaurants, Birmingham has a "cafe culture" about it.
Things to see:
The Bullring shopping centre is a local landmark, and a large quantity
of old redundant buildings have been knocked down as part of the housing
boom so it looks quite attractive, and will continue to improve over the
next year. There a some under-advertised [IHMO] attractions to visit.
People:
The University of Birmmingam and Aston University have high proportions
of Computer Science students and a good record of being helpful with
community projects. So possible "recruitment" opportunities exist.
Cost:
Far off London prices! £3 in London for a pint, £2 here. Public
transport could get you from transport hubs to major venues with ease,
Taxis wouldn't be too outrageous either.
Press:
Several local newspapers would run it and the council would be more than
happy to get involved.
I WOULD BE PREPARED TO HELP...
...with the initial bid at least, so long as we have the resources to
back it up. Ideally a 10-person group with some being available in the
Birmingham area. I have limited experience of organising such events,
but I'm a good communicator and have lived here long enough to know
where to look for help.
I think Birmingham would stand a good chance at getting to the final
rounds of voting at least.
Greg
[[User:GregRobson]]
Angela wrote:
On 8/12/05, Dan Grey <dangrey(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I live in Reading, but I'd advise against it
myself. While the
transport links are excellent (particulary to Heathrow), and the uni
campus is nice, it's not the most exciting bit of the UK to visit, nor
very touristy.
Frankfurt isn't touristy either, but there was very limited time to
see much of the city, so I don't think this should be a primary
concern if Reading was otherwise ok.
I'd back Brighton myself - reasonably close to
Gatwick, not too far
from Dover, and a nice place to visit.
Is flying to Gatwick the only way to get there? That might not be the
most practical. Also, I'd expect Brighton to be more expensive than
cities in the North.
Manchester as a close second
choice - more central in the UK, I believe Manchester Airport handles
trans-Atlantic flights (I wonder how their prices compare to
Gatwick?), and pretty cosmopolitan.
I've never been to Manchester, so I've no idea how good this would be.
My first choice is Birmingham. It's England's 2nd city, but much
cheaper than London. It has an international airport which is just 10
minutes by train to the city centre. It has a large range of
conference venues and lots of cheap accommodation, from the 3
universities and many youth hostels, and every other type of
accommodation. Public transport is better than London (as in less
crowded, less confusing). It's only a couple of hours on the train
from London if people want to fly to Stansted (very cheap from Europe)
or other London airports.
Angela.